This invention relates generally to systems and methods for predictive analytics, and more particularly to predicting events in large data processing systems, such as large distributed database systems, that can result in data unavailability and data loss.
Manufacturers and vendors of data processing systems typically provide support services to their customers. While the manufacturers and vendors customarily issue software updates to correct bugs or to provide added functionality, and, on occasion, may also recall and replace hardware components that have design defects, these support services are generally reactive. When a customer reports a problem, technical support personnel attempt to collect operating information about the system at the time of the problem, diagnose its cause, and provide a fix. This reactive approach can be time-consuming, expensive and result in the system being unavailable to the customer or the loss of critical data, which are generally unacceptable. Very seldom, if ever, do manufacturers and vendors proactively attempt to predict and address problems with their products operating at customers' sites before the problems occur. This may be due to the difficulty of predicting failures accurately.
The problems associated with data unavailability/data loss (DU/DL) are particularly critical with large database systems, particularly those used for transaction processing where any system downtime or loss of data is unacceptable. As a result, such systems are typically engineered with high redundancy and backup which increases their costs and complexity. This approach can minimize data loss, and sometimes data unavailability, but it does not predict and prevent problems before they occur and does not necessarily avoid system downtime.
It is desirable to provide systems and methods that address the foregoing and other problems associated with predicting failures in data processing systems, and that afford a proactive predictive approach for identifying possible data unavailability/data loss events before they occur. It is to these ends that the present invention is directed.